Leon Draisaitl scored the winner at 2:37 of the three-on-three overtime to give teammate Connor McDavid his first win over Sidney Crosby in seven tries.

“He (Smith) stood tall in there; a lot of work, a lot more work than I’d like to see him get,” said Oilers head coach Dave Tippett. “They were quicker than us, but we hung around the game and found a way to get points and that’s what it’s about.”

It was the sixth time in Oilers’ history a goaltender made more than 50 saves in a game, joining Ben Scrivens (59), Bill Ranford (56), Curtis Joseph (52), Devan Dubnyk (52) and Dwayne Roloson (51) in the club. The Oilers are 5-0-1 in such instances.

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It was also the second-most saves made by a goaltender against the Penguins in a regular-season game. Wayne Thomas of the Montreal Canadiens made 53 saves against the Penguins on March 10, 1973.

“I know he’s played well in this building before,” Tippett said. “He’s come in after a good game in Columbus. I think everybody knew that Pittsburgh was getting healthy, they had their full lineup back and it was going to be a tough test for us, and he was up for the challenge.”

Smith made 35 saves through the first two periods, added another 15 in the second and made a key stop in overtime. Brian Dumoulin was the only Penguin to beat him, scoring on a shorthanded rush in the third period to tie the game 1-1.

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“They’re obviously one of the better teams in the league with some of their best players coming back in the lineup and that creates excitement for their group and gives them some energy,” Smith said. “Coming into this game I needed to be my best today and we found a way to get two points and that’s what you have to do.”

Last season, Smith was on the wrong end of a 9-1 defeat to the Penguins as a member of the Calgary Flames. Smith signed as a free agent with the Oilers this offseason.

“Thanks for reminding me,” Smith smiled. “That was important game for the group then. It kind of turned our season around, getting embarrassed at home by a really good team.

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“This is a lot better memory coming out of a game like this.”

EMERGENCY CALL UP

Cave was recalled from the Bakersfield Condors on Friday after Riley Sheahan was belted by Pierre-Luc Dubois in a 4-1 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday.

Cave scored a goal usually patented by McDavid. He skated the puck down the wing, blew around Penguins defenceman Marcus Pettersson, cut to the net, and slid it past Penguins goaltender Matt Murray.

“I got kicked out the draw and Granny (Markus Granlund) went in there and did a good job on the face-off and Benny (Matt Benning) picked up the puck and we locked eyes and he found me and I just tried to take it to the net,” Cave said. “I knew at the dot I was getting around defenceman. If you come around the corner and you can get your arm around him then you know. But lots of times a goalie poke-checks, so I just tried to pull it in and I was able to put it away.”

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Cave did not make it to Pittsburgh in time for practice Friday and had everyone checking their rosters after scoring the opening goal of the game in the second period.

“It’s been kind of a crazy couple of days, but it’s good news, it’s been a good couple of days,” Cave said. “I went down to Bakersfield and worked on my game. I just wanted to come up here and contribute, stay solid on the defensive side, win face-offs and win battles, and hopefully, I can keep that going.”

Cave, 24, had three assists in six games with Bakersfield after starting the year with the Oilers. He also had a memorable fight, knocking out Martin Pospisil of the Stockton Heat in a game two weeks ago. Following the game, Cave reached out to Pospisil, who was knocked cold by a quick right hand.

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“He was a really good player throughout the whole game,” Tippett said. “He played quick, he was good in the face-off dot, he really came in and played well and we needed him. He gave us a bit of a jolt and it was really nice to see. He had a good camp and he tailed off a little bit and went down and got his confidence and came back and really looked good tonight.”

OVERTIME WINNER

Draisaitl’s goal gave him 13 on the year, becoming the first Oiler to hit the mark in the opening 15 games since Wayne Gretzky did it in 1987.

Draisaitl fought off Penguins forward Alex Galchenyuk and lifted the puck over Murray for the winner in a furious back-and-forth overtime.

“If you win it (overtime) is fun,” Draisaitl said. “It can be exhausting, but it was a good win for us. It was kind of broken play on a chance for them and I just thought I would take it to the net.”

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